SunCulture, a Kenyan climate-tech startup, has secured US$5 million in funding from WaterEquity to expand access to its solar-powered water pumps across rural Africa. This investment is the first from WaterEquity's new Water & Climate Resilience Fund.

• The Nairobi-based company will utilize the US$5 million capital to further its reach in providing affordable solar-powered water pumps.
• SunCulture's CEO and Co-Founder, Samir Ibrahim, highlighted that this investment validates their approach to scaling water infrastructure for both impact and commercial returns.
• The startup, founded in 2012, uses a "pay-as-you-grow" financing model, making its clean energy pumps accessible to low-income farmers and offering a sustainable alternative to diesel and manual pumps.

Bolt has launched Bolt Send, a new parcel delivery service in Kenya, leveraging its existing ride-hailing app to cater to the country's expanding e-commerce sector and growing demand for logistics solutions.

• The service will initially operate in Nairobi before expanding to other cities.
• Bolt Send aims to strengthen last-mile logistics by utilizing Bolt's established driver network.
• The move positions Bolt to compete with traditional courier firms and global tech players in the logistics space.

French sustainable investment firm, Mirova, has committed up to US$10 million in five-year debt funding to ARC Ride, a Nairobi-based electric mobility startup, marking its first electric vehicle deal in Sub-Saharan Africa. This financing will support the deployment of over 600 battery-swapping cabinets and 25,000 batteries.

• Mirova's US$10 million debt funding is its first electric vehicle investment in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• ARC Ride, founded in 2019, operates as a Battery-as-a-Service operator, assembling two-wheelers locally.
• Each electric motorbike deployed is projected to cut roughly two metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.